Type-writing machine.



No. 848,708. PATENTED APR. 2, 1907.

F. X. WAGNER.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1905.

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PATENTED APR. 2, 1907.

F. X. WAGNER. TYPE WRITING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1905.

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' UNITED sra rns PATENT OFFICE.

FRANZ X. WAGNER, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO UNDERWooD TYPEWRITER COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

TYPE-WRETBNG MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 2, 1907.

hpplioation filed i 2a 1905. Serial No. 262,851..

To oIZZ whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, FRANZ X. WAGNER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Bronx borough, New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Writih Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the ribbon-controlling devices of type-writing machines, and particularly to the mechanism in front-strike and other visible writing machines by which the ribbon is caused to cover and uncover the printing-point at each type-stroke.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple mechanism'for enabling the operator to shift the ribbon up and down to bring either color-b and thereof into useand also to render the ribbon mechanism inoperative at i will, so as to adapt the machine for writing stencils.

In carrying out my manually-shiftable device which actuates the ribbon-vibrating lever, and to this device I preferably connect a pair of keys having col ors corresponding to the color-bands of ribbon, and I connect the keys to the lever,

one placed upon each side of the lever, the.

actuator itself being pivoted or otherwise mounted, so that it may swing from side to side, whereby either of its slots may be brought into use or caused to engageits associated stud. Said actuator is mounted upon the frame, which usually reciprocates uniformly at each type-stroke. When the actuator is in engagement with one of said studs, it imparts a greater vibration to the lever than when it engages the other thereof. The two parts of the actuator are so separated that when one of them is in engagement withits stud the other is necessarily out of engagement, and provision is also made whereby-the actuator may be held in a midway position, in which neither stud will be engaged, so that invention I provide a the actuator vibrates idly at the-key-strokes and the ribbon remains in inoperative position for writing stencils. v

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation taken through the ribbon mechanism. of an Underwood typewriting machine and showing my-in1prove ments applied thereto. The keys and typebars are shown in normal position and the ribbon-shifting device is shown in its idle position, so that the ribbon is notelevated at the key-strokes. Fi 2 is a sectional rear view of parts seen at I ig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same. Fig. 4 is a pers ective view of the principal portions of the ri hon-vibrating mechanism, the parts being in position seen at Fig.1. Fig. 5 shows the actuator shifted .to the left to give a short stroke to the ribbon, and Fig. 6 shows the same shifted to the.

right to give a long stroke to the ribbon.

As usual in the Underwood type-writing machine, type-bars '1, carrying lower-case types 2 and upper-case types 3, strike rearwardly through a ribbon 4 against a platen 5,

the latter mounted in a frame or carriage (not;

shown) which runs upon a rail 6, shiftable up and down, together with the platen, to enable the types 2 and 3 to print. In all the views the platen and rail are shown in lower-case position.- U

At each type impression theribbon is first vibrated up to cover the printing-point and then down to disclose the writing, these movements being effected by-a carrier 7, standingvertically in front of the platen and "guided in a casting or segment 8, ;in which j are mounted the type-bars 1. The ribbon-carrier is movedup and down by a lever mounted upon a pivot 9 and comprising an arm 10,

extending forwardly from the pivot to the vibrator 7, and an arm 11, extending upwardly from said pivot. oted upon'a bracket 12, fastened upon the platen shift-rail 6; Said arm 11 has upon one side a stud 13 .and upon the opposite side a stud 14, the former nearer the pivot 9 than the latter. A double or two-part actuator comprises a pair of vertical plates 15 and 16,

having, respectively-,-vertical slots 17 and 18, adapted to engage said studs. The plates 15 and :16 form the sides of a U-shaped member The lever is piv- 4 19, Fig. 3, andthe plate15 is extended forwardly and. provided with an car 20, which engages a pivot-screw 21 upon a reciprocating frame 22; The latter is connected to a universal bar 23, which is operated as usual at each type-stroke. Said two-part actuator may be swung or shifted about said pivot 21 and may also be provided with cars 24, that slide under the head of guide-screws 25, the latter fixed in said frame 227 As will be understood, when the actuator is swung to the Fig. 5 position the upper stud 14 is engaged by the slot 18, whereby a minimum vibration of the lever and the ribbon-carrier 7 is effected, so as to bring into use the upper colorband upon the ribbon; but when said actuator is swung to the Fig. '6 position the slot 17 engages the stud 13, which is nearest to the lever-pivot 9, and thereby the lever and ribbon-carrier aregiven maximum movement, so as to bring into use the lower colorband 26. When, however, the actuator is in a midway position, as at Fig. 3, neither stud is engaged by the actuator, the studs being tooshort to reach the sides of the latter, and hence the universal-barframe 22 vibrates idly so far as the ribbon is concerned, and the latter remains inoperative, so that the types strike off the ribbon. A spring-detent'27,

' secured by a screw 28 upon the under side of the frame 22, is adapted to engage a suitable opening 30 in an ear 3 1, proj ecting rearward 1y from the actuator, and hold the actuator in midway position and, also 'to engage the side edges of the ear for holding the actuator in extreme positions. To said car 31 I connect loosely'a link 32, which extends toward the left and issupported at its other end upon a grooved stud 33, the link having a keyholeslot 34, which engages the groove in the stud and permits ready attachment and detachment of the link. The latter may be extended and provided with a finger-piece 35, projecting at the sideof the machine; but pref erably I mount upon a forwardly-extending rock-shaft 36 an arm 37 having forks 38 projecting up through holes 39 in the link, so

that by rocking the shaft the link is caused to move endwise. Upon the forward end of this shaft I provide divergent arms 40 and 41, the former provided with a key 42 of the same color as' the top band 25 of the ribbon and the latter with a key 43 of the same color as the lower band 25 of the ribbon. "When either of said keysis de ressed, the shaft 36 is correspondingly roe ed and the corresponding color of theribbon is brought into play. The slots Y117. and 18 are of considerable height to accommodate up-and-down shifting movement of the ribbon-vibrating 6 0 lever. which is connected to the shift-rail 6.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination with a ribbon-vibrating lever having studs at unequal distances from its fulcrum, of an actuator having slots to engage said studs, said actuator being shiftable to bring either stud into use at will,

and also being shiftable to a position in which ,is pivoted. in such a manner that the actuator maybe shifted from side to side to enable eitherslot to engage its associated stud or to render the actuator free of the studs, and a detent for holding said actuator in any position to which it is shifted.

3. In a type-writing machine, the combination with a ribbon-vibrating lever having studs at unequal distances from its fulcrum, of an actuator having slots to engage said studs, a link connected to said actuator, an arm connected to said link, a shaft upon which said arm is fixed, divergent arms upon said shaft, and keysupon the ends of said arms.

studs at unequal distances from its fulcrum, of an actuator having slots to engage said studs, a reciprocating frame whereon sald actuator is pivoted in such a manner that the actuator may be shifted from side to side to enable either slot to engage its associated stud or to render the actuator free of the studs at will, a detent for holding said actuator in any position to which itis shifted, and shift-keys connected to said actuator.

5. In a type-writing machine, the combination'with'a ribbon-vibrating lever, of an actuator, a reciprocating frame whereon said actuator is shiftable, a detent for holding said actuator in any position to which it is shifted, a pair of keys, and means for enabling said keys to shift said actuator; means being provided whereby shifting of the actuator effects variationin the leverage of the latter upon said lever, and said keys being mounted upon the frameworkof the machine near the keyboard.

FRANZ X. VAGNER.

VVitnessesz- GEORGE L. HARBAU'ER, H. L. WAGNER.

4. In a type-writing machine, the combination with a ribbon-vibrating lever having. 

